As workers are being told to return to the office, there are several challenges that they are facing. Many employees are resistant to returning onsite full-time, as they have grown accustomed to the flexibility and autonomy of working from home. They may also have concerns about long and costly commutes, child care, work-life balance and office distractions. Employees may push back against in-person work to the point of quitting. Those who don’t resign could likely become disengaged and participate in workplace trends, such as quiet quitting, loud quitting, acting their wage and committing to Bare Minimum Mondays.
A recent McKinsey report suggests that mid to senior-level employees earning over $150,000 oppose full-time, in-person work. Forty-four percent of senior workers reported preferring to work remotely, while 50% of mid-level employees share the same sentiment. Companies implementing return-to-office plans run the risk of alienating their top employees, if not handled correctly.
What Companies Can Do
Returning to the office is rife with pitfalls. Employers need to be aware of these challenges and take steps to address them to ensure a successful transition.
Attention should be paid to new pain points. Empathetic bosses must address concerns about long commutes and work-life balance for in-person work. By embracing flexibility, providing benefits, communicating effectively, offering incentives and a hybrid work option, companies can facilitate a successful transition back to the office.
Leadership must accept that a large segment of the workforce wants to work remotely, or at least hybrid, for two or three days in the office. Employees altered their lifestyles since the onset of the pandemic. Some have sold their homes and moved to lower-cost locations. People have developed routines and spent large amounts of money retrofitting their homes to optimize working remotely. They’ve begun prioritizing relationships with their family and friends.
Managers need to offer the value-add of a three-hour, daily, round-trip commute. If workers schlep into the office only to be on video calls and emails all day, which they could do from home, there will be a revolt.
If the workers are in a hot and growing sector, they’ll be more apt to start searching for a new job that offers a better work-life balance, including a work-from-home option.
Managers should regularly engage with employees to understand their needs and wants. There must be clear communication between management and the staff to ensure they feel valued, appreciated and supported.
Offer Incentives
Although there is still likely to be some friction after a return-to-office mandate, companies should provide incentives to encourage employees to work in the office. These incentives would also offset the high costs of a total return to the office, which burns a hole in workers’ pockets. Employers could offer commuter and child-care benefits, meal stipends and wellness perks.
The firms that offer flexibility by allowing employees to select the work style that best fits their needs will win the war of recruiting and retention. In fact, companies that only offer in-person work are having a more challenging time attracting talent. According to a July Flex Index report by Scoop, organizations with flexible work options added jobs at more than twice the rate of companies that were full-time in person. The research found that companies that mandate one to three days on-site grew much faster than firms that require four or five.
Employers could offer a re-joining bonus as a show of good faith to help ease the bad feelings. Leadership could follow that up with compensation raises, promotions, upskilling, mentorship and career coaching to sweeten the pot.
Source: Forbes
